Systems and methods for providing media content listings according to points of interest

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for allowing a user to obtain a listing of points of interest and associated media content listings based on the user&#39;s current geographic location. The user&#39;s current geographic location may be determined using, for example, a GPS transceiver incorporated in the user&#39;s user access device. Information may then be communicated from a remote server to the user access device that identifies points of interest associated with the geographic location as well as media content listings associated with the points of interest.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/805,939, filed Jul. 22, 2015, which is a continuation of Ser. No.12/779,835 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,122,701), filed May 13, 2010, each ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety,respectively.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally directed to providing media contentand media content listings, and more particularly the present inventionis directed to providing media content and media content listings basedat least in part on geographic location. Conventional media contentlisting systems, such as television program guides, deliver listings andcontent to end users who use stationary equipment. For example, userstypically access television program listings on a stationary televisionthat may be connected to a stationary set-top box.

With the increase in popularity of mobile devices, such as smartphones,and the increasing amount of content available for access from suchdevices comes a need to organize the content bearing in mind the mobilenature of the device on which the content will be accessed. It wouldtherefore be desirable to provide a way to organize and suggest contentto the user based on, for example, geographic location.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In some embodiments of the present invention, systems and methods areprovided for a media guidance application that allows a user to obtainmedia content listings associated with a particular geographicallocation. The media guidance application may provide the user with theability to input the particular geographical location into a userequipment device. The user equipment device may be, for example, anysuitable mobile device such as a smartphone, laptop, tablet computingdevice, or any other suitable device that may have wirelesscommunications capabilities.

The media guidance application may communicate information regarding thegeographical location to a remote server (e.g., that may be part of adistribution facility). This communication may take place over, forexample, a wireless communications network. The remote server mayprocess the information to determine appropriate media content listingsto provide according to, for example, media consumption data. The mediaconsumption data may be acquired from monitoring other users' usage oftheir respective media guidance applications based on, for example,real-time clickstream data. For example, the other users may be selectedbased on the fact that they were visiting the vicinity of the geographiclocation (i.e., but do not actually reside there). In some embodiments,the other users may have been visiting from the same location in whichthe current user attempting to access the appropriate media contentlistings is currently located or resides.

The geographic location of users and their respective user equipmentdevices may be obtained either manually (e.g., the user enters theinformation manually) or automatically using, for example, any suitablelocation detection system such as a system based on a global positioningsatellite (GPS) (i.e., in which a GPS transceiver is incorporated intothe user equipment device). The media guidance application may associatethis location information in real-time with the content listings andcorresponding content being accessed from the respective user equipmentdevice. This information may be stored in a database in the remoteserver.

In some embodiments of the present invention, system and methods areprovided for a media guidance application that allows a user to obtainmedia content listings that correspond to media content associated withpoints of interest in the vicinity of the user's current geographiclocation. The media guidance application may obtain informationindicative of the user's (and the user equipment device's) geographiclocation using, for example, a GPS system that may be incorporated intothe user equipment device. This information may be communicated by themedia guidance application to a remote server, which may be part of adistribution facility. The remote server may include a database of mediacontent data, including data which may be searched to identify points ofinterest associated with particular geographic locations. The points ofinterest may, in turn be associated with media content listings. Forexample, a particular geographic location may be associated with aparticular landmark at which a certain scene of a movie was filmed. Themedia guidance application may determine the user equipment device'sgeographic location and the communicate it to the remote server whichidentifies the landmark and the associated scene of the movie. Theremote server may then communicate information about the landmark andthe movie to the user equipment device, which may display theinformation in the form of, for example, media content listings, to theuser.

The media guidance application may gather information about points ofinterest and associated media content and media content listings basedon information provided by users, based on predefined data, or both. Forexample, the media guidance information may provide the user with theability to enter information about points of interest and associatedmedia content based on the user's current geographic location (i.e.,which the media guidance application may automatically determine using,for example, GPS). The information about the geographic location, thepoints of interest, and the media content may then be communicated tothe remote server, which may, for example, store the information (ordata derived from the information) in a database with the appropriateassociations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features of the invention, its nature, and various advantages will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an grid program listings display screen in accordance withsome embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative video mosaic display screen in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 3 shows a generalized embodiment of an illustrative user equipmentdevice in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative system in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in providingmedia content listings on a user equipment device located at ageographic location in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in providingpoints of interest based on geographic location to a user equipmentdevice in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 7 shows a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in updating adatabase of points of interest in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 8 shows an illustrative media application guide display screen fordisplaying media content listings in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative media application guide display screen fordisplaying mixed media content listings in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 10 shows an illustrative media application guide display screen fordisplaying points of interest based on geographic location in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative media application guide display screen fordisplaying points of interest based on geographic location in accordancewith some embodiments; and

FIG. 12 shows an illustrative media application guide display screenwhich may be used for updating a database of points of interest inaccordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The amount of media available to users in any given media deliverysystem can be substantial. Consequently, many users desire a form ofmedia guidance through an interface that allows users to efficientlynavigate media selections and easily identify media that they maydesire. An application which provides such guidance is referred toherein as an interactive media guidance application or, sometimes, amedia guidance application or a guidance application.

Interactive media guidance applications may take various forms dependingon the media for which they provide guidance. One typical type of mediaguidance application is an interactive television program guide.Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to aselectronic program guides) are guidance applications that, among otherthings, allow users to navigate among and locate many types of mediacontent including conventional television programming (provided viatraditional broadcast, cable, satellite, Internet, or other means), aswell as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (using, for example,video-on-demand (VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming media,downloadable media, Webcasts, any other suitable Internet content, orany combination thereof), and other types of media or video content.Guidance applications also allow users to navigate among and locatecontent related to the video content including, for example, videoclips, articles, advertisements, chat sessions, games, any other type ofrelated content, or any combinations thereof. Guidance applications alsoallow users to navigate among and locate multimedia content. The termmultimedia is defined herein as media and content that utilizes at leasttwo different content forms, such as text, audio, still images,animation, video, and interactivity content forms. Multimedia contentmay be recorded and played, displayed or accessed by information contentprocessing devices, such as computerized and electronic devices, but canalso be part of a live performance. It should be understood that theembodiments of the present invention that are discussed in relation tomedia content are also applicable to other types of content, such asvideo, audio and/or multimedia.

With the promulgation of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speedwireless networks, users are able to access media on personal computers(PCs) and on other devices such as hand-held computers, tabletcomputers, in-vehicle computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs),smartphones, mobile telephones, internet phones, satellite phones,in-vehicle phones or interface systems, digital cameras, video players,music players, gaming machines, vehicle navigation systems, other mobiledevices, and any combination thereof. On these devices users may be ableto navigate among and locate the same or substantially the same orsimilar media available through a television. Consequently, mediaguidance would be beneficial on these devices as well. The guidanceprovided may be for media content available only through a television,for media content available only through one or more of these devices,or for media content available both through a television and one or moreof these devices. The media guidance applications may be provided asInternet-based on-line applications (e.g., provided on a web-site), oras stand-alone applications or clients on hand-held computers, tabletcomputers, in-vehicle computers, PDAs, smartphones, mobile telephones,internet phones, satellite phones, in-vehicle phones or interfacesystems, digital cameras, video players, music players, gaming machines,vehicle navigation systems, or other mobile devices. These devices mayalso include hardware, software, or both to determine the geographiclocation of the device (e.g., satellite positioning system (e.g., GPS),antenna triangulation system, wifi capability, any other suitablehardware, software, or both, or any combination thereof). Contentaccessed or provided by a mobile device may be associated with thegeographic location of the mobile device. The various devices andplatforms that may use media guidance applications are described in moredetail below.

One of the functions of the media guidance application is to providemedia listings and media information to users. FIGS. 1-2 and 8-12 showillustrative display screens that may be used to provide media guidance,and in particular media listings, media content associated withgeographic location, and updates to databases of media content data andgeographic location associations. The display screens shown in FIGS. 1-2and 8-12 may be implemented on any suitable device or platform. Whilethe displays of FIGS. 1-2 and 8-12 are illustrated as full screendisplays, they may also be fully or partially overlaid over mediacontent being displayed. A user may access or indicate a desire toaccess media information by selecting a selectable option provided in adisplay screen (e.g., a menu option, a listings option, an icon, ahyperlink, any other suitable option, or any combination thereof),pressing a dedicated button (e.g., a GUIDE button, a soft key, any othersuitable button, or any combination thereof) on a user equipment device,making a selection using a touchscreen or other user input interface ordevice, any other suitable option, or any combination thereof. In someembodiments of the present invention, the media guidance application maytake input from a user using voice commands.

In response to the user's indication, the media guidance application mayprovide a display screen with media information organized in anysuitable way. For example, media information may be organized in a gridformat, in a list, by any suitable grouping, in any other suitable way,or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, media information suchas media listings or links to media content, may be organized by timeand channel in a grid, by popularity, by location, by time, by channel,by media type, by category (e.g., movies, television, radio, sports,news, children, web content or other categories of programming), orother predefined, user-defined, or other organization criteria. In someembodiments, media information may be sorted and/or organized accordingto popularity.

In addition to providing access to linear media content providedaccording to a schedule, the media guidance application may also provideaccess to non-linear media content which is not provided according to aschedule. Non-linear media content may include content from differentmedia sources including on-demand media content (e.g., VOD), Internetcontent (e.g., streaming media, downloadable media, multimedia metadata,etc.), locally stored media content (e.g., video content stored on asmartphone, tablet computer, vehicle navigation system, CD, DVD, etc.),or other time-insensitive media content. On-demand content may includeboth movies and original media content provided by a particular mediaprovider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “Curb YourEnthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time WarnerCompany L.P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM aretrademarks owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content mayinclude web events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or contentavailable on-demand as streaming media or downloadable media through anInternet web site or other Internet access (e.g. FTP). The variouspermutations of the types of listings that may be displayed that aredifferent than display 800 may be based on user selection or guidanceapplication definition (e.g., a display of only movie and radiolistings, only news and Internet content listings, etc.). In someembodiments, a user may access additional listings in accordance withsome embodiments of the present invention.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user'spreferences. A personalized media guidance application may allow a userto customize displays and features to create a personalized “experience”with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may becreated by allowing one or more users to input these customizations, bythe media guidance application monitoring user activity to determinevarious user preferences, or both. Users may access their personalizedguidance application by logging in or otherwise identifying themselvesto the guidance application. Customization of the media guidanceapplication may be made in accordance with a user profile. Thecustomizations may include varying presentation schemes (e.g., colorscheme of displays, font size of text, any other suitable scheme, or anycombination thereof), aspects of media content listings displayed (e.g.,only HDTV media content, user-specified media types based on favoritemedia type selections, re-ordering the display of media types,recommended media content, any other suitable aspect, or any combinationthereof), desired recording features (e.g., recording or seriesrecordings for particular users, recording quality, any other suitablerecording feature, or any combination thereof), parental controlsettings, any other desired customizations, or any combination thereof.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profileinformation, may automatically compile user profile information from oneor more users, or both. The media guidance application may, for example,monitor the media the user accesses, the geographic location where theuser accesses the media, and/or other interactions the user may havewith the guidance application. Additionally, the media guidanceapplication may obtain all or part of other user profiles that arerelated to a particular user (e.g., from other users near the geographiclocation of the user, from other web sites on the Internet the useraccesses, such as www.tvguide.com, from other media guidanceapplications the user accesses, from other interactive applications theuser accesses, from a handheld device of the user, any other suitableinformation, or any combination thereof), and/or obtain informationabout the user from other sources that the media guidance applicationmay access. As a result, a user may be provided with a unified guidanceapplication experience across the user's equipment devices in accordancewith some embodiments of the present invention. Additional personalizedmedia guidance application features are described in greater detail inEllis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/179,410, filed Jul.11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/437,304,filed Nov. 9, 1999, and Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/105,128, filed Feb. 21, 2002, which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entireties.

FIG. 1 shows illustrative grid program listings display 100 arranged bytime and channel that also enables access to different types of mediacontent in a single display. Display 100 may include grid 102 with: (1)a column of channel/media type identifiers 104, where each channel/mediatype identifier (which is a cell in the column) identifies a differentchannel or media type available; and (2) a row of time identifiers 106,where each time identifier (which is a cell in the row) identifies atime block of programming. Grid 102 also includes cells of programlistings, such as program listing 108, where each listing provides thetitle of the program provided on the listing's associated channel andtime. With a user input device, a user can select program listings bymoving highlight region 110. Information relating to the program listingselected by highlight region 110 may be provided in program informationregion 112. Region 112 may include, for example, the program title, theprogram description, the time the program is provided (if applicable),the channel the program is on (if applicable), the program's rating, andother desired information.

In addition to providing access to linear programming provided accordingto a schedule, the media guidance application also provides access tonon-linear programming which is not provided according to a schedule.Non-linear programming may include content from different media sourcesincluding on-demand media content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g.,streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored media content(e.g., video content stored on a digital video recorder (DVR), digitalvideo disc (DVD), video cassette, compact disc (CD), etc.), or othertime-insensitive media content. On-demand content may include bothmovies and original media content provided by a particular mediaprovider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “Curb YourEnthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time WarnerCompany L.P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM aretrademarks owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content mayinclude web events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or contentavailable on-demand as streaming media or downloadable media through anInternet web site or other Internet access (e.g. FTP).

Grid 102 may provide listings for non-linear programming includingon-demand listing 114, recorded media listing 116, and Internet contentlisting 118. A display combining listings for content from differenttypes of media sources is sometimes referred to as a “mixed-media”display. The various permutations of the types of listings that may bedisplayed that are different than display 100 may be based on userselection or guidance application definition (e.g., a display of onlyrecorded and broadcast listings, only on-demand and broadcast listings,etc.). As illustrated, listings 114, 116, and 118 are shown as spanningthe entire time block displayed in grid 102 to indicate that selectionof these listings may provide access to a display dedicated to on-demandlistings, recorded listings, or Internet listings, respectively. Inother embodiments, listings for these media types may be includeddirectly in grid 102. Additional listings may be displayed in responseto the user selecting one of the navigational icons 120. (Pressing anarrow key on a user input device may affect the display in a similarmanner as selecting navigational icons 120.)

Display 100 may also include video region 122, advertisement 124, andoptions region 126. Video region 122 may allow the user to view and/orpreview programs that are currently available, will be available, orwere available to the user. The content of video region 122 maycorrespond to, or be independent from, one of the listings displayed ingrid 102. Grid displays including a video region are sometimes referredto as picture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and theirfunctionalities are described in greater detail in Satterfield et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat.No. 6,239,794, issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entireties. PIG displays may be included inother media guidance application display screens of the presentinvention.

Advertisement 124 may provide an advertisement for media content that,depending on a viewer's access rights (e.g., for subscriptionprogramming), is currently available for viewing, will be available forviewing in the future, or may never become available for viewing, andmay correspond to or be unrelated to one or more of the media listingsin grid 102. Advertisement 124 may also be for products or servicesrelated or unrelated to the media content displayed in grid 102.Advertisement 124 may be selectable and provide further informationabout media content, provide information about a product or a service,enable purchasing of media content, a product, or a service, providemedia content relating to the advertisement, etc. Advertisement 124 maybe targeted based on a user's profile/preferences, monitored useractivity, the type of display provided, or on other suitable targetedadvertisement bases.

While advertisement 124 is shown as rectangular or banner shaped,advertisements may be provided in any suitable size, shape, and locationin a guidance application display. For example, advertisement 124 may beprovided as a rectangular shape that is horizontally adjacent to grid102. This is sometimes referred to as a panel advertisement. Inaddition, advertisements may be overlaid over media content or aguidance application display or embedded within a display.Advertisements may also include text, images, rotating images, videoclips, or other types of media content. Advertisements may be stored inthe user equipment with the guidance application, in a databaseconnected to the user equipment, in a remote location (includingstreaming media servers), or on other storage means or a combination ofthese locations. Providing advertisements in a media guidanceapplication is discussed in greater detail in, for example, Knudson etal., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/347,673, filed Jan. 17, 2003,Ward, III et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,997, issued Jun. 29, 2004, andSchein et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,714, issued May 14, 2002, which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. It will beappreciated that advertisements may be included in other media guidanceapplication display screens of the present invention.

Options region 126 may allow the user to access different types of mediacontent, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidanceapplication features. Options region 126 may be part of display 100 (andother display screens of the present invention), or may be invoked by auser by selecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated orassignable button on a user input device. The selectable options withinoptions region 126 may concern features related to program listings ingrid 102 or may include options available from a main menu display.Features related to program listings may include searching for other airtimes or ways of receiving a program, recording a program, enablingseries recording of a program, setting program and/or channel as afavorite, purchasing a program, or other features. Options availablefrom a main menu display may include search options, VOD options,parental control options, access to various types of listing displays,subscribe to a premium service, edit a user's profile, access a browseoverlay, or other options.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown inFIG. 2. Video mosaic display 200 includes selectable options 202 formedia content information organized based on media type, genre, and/orother organization criteria. In display 200, television listings option204 is selected, thus providing listings 206, 208, 210, and 212 asbroadcast program listings. Unlike the listings from FIG. 1, thelistings in display 200 are not limited to simple text (e.g., theprogram title) and icons to describe media. Rather, in display 200 thelistings may provide graphical images including cover art, still imagesfrom the media content, video clip previews, live video from the mediacontent, or other types of media that indicate to a user the mediacontent being described by the listing. Each of the graphical listingsmay also be accompanied by text to provide further information about themedia content associated with the listing. For example, listing 208 mayinclude more than one portion, including media portion 214 and textportion 216. Media portion 214 and/or text portion 216 may be selectableto view video in full-screen or to view program listings related to thevideo displayed in media portion 214 (e.g., to view listings for thechannel that the video is displayed on).

The listings in display 200 are of different sizes (i.e., listing 206 islarger than listings 208, 210, and 212), but if desired, all thelistings may be the same size. Listings may be of different sizes orgraphically accentuated to indicate degrees of interest to the user orto emphasize certain content, as desired by the media provider or basedon user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphicallyaccentuating media listings are discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/324,202, filed Dec. 29, 2005, which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Users may access media content and the media guidance application (andits display screens described above and below) from one or more of theiruser equipment devices. FIG. 3 shows a generalized embodiment ofillustrative user equipment device 300. More specific implementations ofuser equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 4.User equipment device 300 may receive media content and data viainput/output (hereinafter “I/O”) path 302. I/O path 302 may providemedia content (e.g., broadcast programming, on-demand programming,Internet content, video, audio, any other suitable content, or anycombination thereof) and data to control circuitry 304, which includesprocessing circuitry 306, storage 308, and location detection module316. Control circuitry 304 may be used to send and receive commands,requests, and other suitable data using I/O path 302. I/O path 302 mayconnect control circuitry 304 (and specifically processing circuitry306) to one or more communications paths in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention (including wireless communicationsnetworks, paths, or both). I/O functions may be provided by one or moreof these communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 3to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 304 may be based on any suitable processing circuitry306 such as processing circuitry based on one or more microprocessors,microcontrollers, digital signal processors, programmable logic devices,etc. In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 executes instructionsfor a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e., storage 308).In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 304 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidanceapplication server or other networks or servers. Communicationscircuitry may include a cable modem, an integrated services digitalnetwork (ISDN) modem, a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephonemodem, or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment. Suchcommunications may involve the Internet or any other suitablecommunications networks or paths in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present invention. In addition, communications circuitry may includecircuitry that enables peer-to-peer communication of user equipmentdevices, or communication of user equipment devices in locations remotefrom each other.

Memory (e.g., random-access memory, read-only memory, any other suitablememory, or any combination thereof), hard drives, optical drives, anyother suitable fixed or removable storage devices (e.g., DVD recorder,CD recorder, video cassette recorder, or other suitable recordingdevice), or any combination thereof may be provided as storage 308 thatis part of control circuitry 304. Storage 308 may include one or more ofthe above types of storage devices. For example, user equipment device300 may include a hard drive for a DVR (sometimes called a personalvideo recorder, or PVR) and a DVD recorder as a secondary storagedevice. Storage 308 may be used to store various types of mediadescribed herein and guidance application data, including programinformation, guidance application settings, user preferences or profileinformation, or other data used in operating the guidance application.Nonvolatile memory may also be used (e.g., to launch a boot-up routineand other instructions).

Control circuitry 304 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 304 may also include scaler circuitry for upconvertingand downconverting media into the preferred output format of the userequipment 300. Circuitry 304 may also include digital-to-analogconverter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry forconverting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may be used by the user equipment to receive and to display,to play, or to record media content. The tuning and encoding circuitrymay also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitry describedherein, including for example, the tuning, video generating, encoding,decoding, scaler, and analog/digital circuitry, may be implemented usingsoftware running on one or more general purpose or specializedprocessors. Multiple tuners may be provided to handle simultaneoustuning functions (e.g., watch and record functions, picture-in-picture(PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording, etc.). If storage 308 isprovided as a separate device from user equipment 300, the tuning andencoding circuitry (including multiple tuners) may be associated withstorage 308.

Location detection module 316 may include hardware, software, or both todetermine the geographic location of the user equipment device (e.g.,satellite positioning system (e.g., GPS), antenna triangulation system,wifi capability, any other suitable hardware, software, or both, or anycombination thereof). For purposes of clarity, and not by way oflimitation, the location determining features of the present inventionwith respect to user equipment will be referred to herein as a locationdetection module (e.g. location detection module 316), a locationdetection computing device, or a location detection adapter. It will beunderstood that this term refers not only to global positioningsatellite systems but also to other types of positioning systems (suchas regional satellite systems), antenna triangulation, location trackingvia Internet protocol (IP) address, any other suitable locationdetermining mechanism, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments,content accessed or provided by a user equipment device may beassociated with the geographic location of the user equipment device.

A user may control the control circuitry 304 using user input interface310. User input interface 310 may be any suitable user interface, suchas a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard, touch screen,touch pad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognition interface, or otheruser input interfaces. Display 312 may be provided as a stand-alonedevice or integrated with other elements of user equipment device 300.Display 312 may be one or more of a monitor, a television, a liquidcrystal display (LCD) for a mobile device, or any other suitableequipment for displaying visual images. In some embodiments, display 312may be HDTV-capable. Speakers 314 may be provided as integrated withother elements of user equipment device 300 or may be stand-alone units.The audio component of videos and other media content displayed ondisplay 312 may be played through speakers 314. In some embodiments, theaudio may be distributed to a receiver (not shown), which processes andoutputs the audio via speakers 314.

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone application whollyimplemented on user equipment device 300. In such an approach,instructions of the application are stored locally, and data for use bythe application is downloaded on a periodic basis (e.g., from the VBI ofa television channel, from an out-of-band feed, or using anothersuitable approach). In another embodiment, the media guidanceapplication is a client-server based application. Data for use by athick or thin client implemented on user equipment device 300 isretrieved on-demand by issuing requests to a server remote to the userequipment device 300. In one example of a client-server based guidanceapplication, control circuitry 304 runs a web browser that interpretsweb pages provided by a remote server.

In yet other embodiments, the media guidance application is downloadedand interpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine(run by control circuitry 304). In some embodiments, the guidanceapplication may be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF),received by control circuitry 304 as part of a suitable feed, andinterpreted by a user agent running on control circuitry 304. Forexample, the guidance application may be a EBIF widget. In otherembodiments, the guidance application may be defined by a series ofJAVA-based files that are received and run by a local virtual machine orother suitable middleware executed by control circuitry 304. In some ofsuch embodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital mediaencoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encodedand transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio andvideo packets of a program.

User equipment device 300 of FIG. 3 may be implemented in system 400 ofFIG. 4 as user computer equipment 404, wireless user communicationsdevice 406, any other type of user equipment suitable for accessingmedia, or any combination thereof. User equipment devices, on which amedia guidance application is implemented, may function as a standalonedevice or may be part of an installation and/or a network of devices.Various network configurations of devices may be implemented and arediscussed in more detail below.

A generalized embodiment of the system of the disclosure is shown asillustrative system 400 in FIG. 4. In some embodiments, installation 402may comprise user computer equipment 404, wireless user communicationsdevice 406, any other type suitable user equipment device (e.g.,television equipment, gaming equipment, vehicular navigation equipment,etc.), or any combination thereof. For simplicity, these devices may bereferred to herein collectively as user equipment or user equipmentdevices. User equipment, on which a media guidance application may beused in whole or in part, may function as a standalone device or may bepart of a network of devices. For example, installation 402 may be avehicle (e.g., automobile, scooter, motorcycle, bicycle, airplane, boat,train, tram, or any other suitable vehicle), a dwelling, or any othersuitable stationary or mobile location. Various network configurationsof devices may be used and are discussed in more detail below.

User computer equipment 404 may include a PC, a laptop, a tabletcomputer, an in-vehicle computer, a gaming computer, a personal computertelevision (PC/TV), a PC media server, a PC media center, or other usercomputer equipment. Wireless user communications device 406 may includea PDA, a smartphone, a mobile telephone, an internet phone, a satellitephone, an in-vehicle phone or interface system, a digital camera, aportable video player, a portable music player, a portable gamingmachine, a wifi enabled laptop, netbook, or tablet computer, a 3G (orother cellular network) enabled laptop, netbook, or tablet computer, anyother suitable wireless device, or any combination thereof.

It should be noted that with the availability of television tuner cardsfor PC's and the integration of video into other user equipment devices,the lines have become blurred when trying to classify a device as one ofthe above devices. In fact, each of user computer equipment 404 andwireless user communications device 406 may utilize at least some of thesystem features described above in connection with installation 402 and,as a result, include flexibility with respect to the type of mediacontent available on the device. For example, user computer equipment404 and/or wireless user communications device 406 may include a tunerallowing for access to television programming. The media guidanceapplication may also have the same layout on the various different typesof user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of theuser equipment. For example, on user computer equipment, the guidanceapplication may be provided as a web site accessed by a web browser. Inanother example, the guidance application may be scaled down forwireless user communications devices.

In system 400, there may be more than one of each type of user equipmentdevice but only one of each is shown in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicatingthe drawing. In addition, each user may utilize more than one type ofuser equipment device (e.g., a user may have a smartphone and a tabletcomputer) and also more than one of each type of user equipment device(e.g., a user may have a PDA and a mobile telephone and/or multiplevehicle navigation systems).

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent mediaguidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices.Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and programfavorites, media content preferences that the guidance applicationutilizes to make media content recommendations, display preferences, andother desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channelas a favorite on, for example, the web site www.tvguide.com on theirpersonal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as afavorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipmentand user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, ifdesired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can changethe guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless ofwhether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device.In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user,as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 414.Namely, user computer equipment 404 and wireless user communicationsdevice 406 may be coupled to communications network 414 viacommunications paths 410 and 412, respectively. Communications network414 may be one or more networks including the Internet, a mobile phonenetwork, mobile device (e.g., Blackberry) network, cable network, publicswitched telephone network, wifi network, satellite network, local areanetwork (LAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), or other types ofcommunications network or combinations of communications networks.BLACKBERRY is a service mark owned by Research In Motion Limited Corp.Paths 410 and 412 may separately or together include one or morecommunications paths, such as a satellite path, a fiber-optic path, acable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g., IPTV),free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wireless signals),any other suitable wired or wireless communications path, or anycombination of such paths. Communications with the user equipmentdevices may be provided by one or more of these communications paths,but are shown as a single path in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing.

User equipment devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunication path 408, which may be similar to those described above inconnection with paths 410 and 412, as well other short-rangepoint-to-point communication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394cables, wireless paths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.),or other short-range communication via wired or wireless paths.BLUETOOTH is a certification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The userequipment devices may also communicate with each other directly throughan indirect path via communications network 414.

System 400 may include positioning equipment 442, which may communicatewith communications network 414 and wireless user communications device406 through communications paths 444 and 446, respectively. In someembodiments, positioning equipment 442 may be a cellular communicationstower, a satellite communications tower, or both. In some embodiments,positioning equipment 442 may be used to determine the geographiclocation of one or more user equipment devices in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention. Communications paths 444 and 446may include any of the communication paths described above in connectionwith paths 408, 410, and 412 and may be exchanged over one or morecommunications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 4 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing.

System 400 may include distribution facility 416, which may includemedia content source 418 (including electronic database 432), mediaguidance data source 420 (including electronic database 434), or bothcoupled to communications network 414 via communication paths 424 and426, respectively. In addition, system 400 may include more than one ofeach of media content source 418 and media guidance data source 420,such as secondary media content source 422 (including electronicdatabase 436), which may be connected to communications network 414through communications path 428. Electronic databases 432, 434, 436, anyother suitable database, or any combination thereof may contain datarelated to content consumption, points of interest, any other suitabledata, or any combination thereof in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present invention.

Distribution facility 416 may also include electronic processingequipment 438, which may communicate with other distribution componentsvia communications path 440. Communications path 440 may be any suitablecommunications network or path in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present invention. For simplicity, these sources may be referred toherein collectively as distribution equipment or distribution componentsand may be represented herein as user distribution facility 416. In someembodiments, additional distribution components, such as secondary mediacontent source 422, may be included in distribution facility 416. Insome embodiments, additional distribution components, such as secondarymedia content source 422, may be separate from distribution facility 416(e.g., website, third-party database, etc.) and may be connected todistribution facility 416 through communications path 430. Only onedistribution component is shown in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. Distribution facility 416 may be arranged in any suitableconfiguration, such as comprising a single geographic location and/orserver, comprising distribution amongst multiple locations and/orservers, comprising an integrated media content and media guidancesource, comprising a combination of separate distribution components,any other suitable configuration, or any combination thereof.

Communications paths 424, 426, 428, and 440 may include any of thecommunication paths described above in connection with paths 408, 410,and 412. Communications with the media content source 418, mediaguidance data source 420, and any additional distribution components,such as secondary media content source 422, may be exchanged over one ormore communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 4 toavoid overcomplicating the drawing. In some embodiments, media contentsource 418 and media guidance data source 420 may be integrated as onesource device. Although communications between distribution components418, 420 and 438 with user equipment devices 404 and 406 are shown asthrough communications network 414, in some embodiments, sources 418,420, and 438 may communicate directly with user equipment devices 404and 406 via communication paths such as those described above inconnection with paths 408, 410 and 412.

Although communications paths are not drawn between distributioncomponents, these devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunication paths, such as those described above in connection withpaths 408, 410, and 412, as well other short-range point-to-pointcommunication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wirelesspaths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or othershort-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is acertification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The distributioncomponents may also communicate with each other directly through anindirect path via communications network 414.

Media content source 418 may include one or more types of mediadistribution equipment including a distribution facility, cable systemheadend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g.,television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediatedistribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demandmedia servers, and other media content providers. NBC is a trademarkowned by the National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademarkowned by the ABC, INC., and HBO is a trademark owned by the Home BoxOffice, Inc. Media content source 418 may be the originator of mediacontent (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) ormay not be the originator of media content (e.g., an on-demand mediacontent provider, an Internet provider of video content of broadcastprograms for downloading, etc.). Media content source 418 may includecable sources, satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internetproviders, or other providers of media content. Media content source 418may also include a remote media server used to store different types ofmedia content (including video content selected by a user), in alocation remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems andmethods for remote storage of media content, and providing remotelystored media content to user equipment are discussed in greater detailin connection with Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/332,244, filed Jun. 11, 1999, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source 420 may provide media guidance data, such asmedia listings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast times,broadcast channels, media titles, media descriptions, ratingsinformation (e.g., parental control ratings, critic's ratings,consumption rates, popularity, etc.), genre or category information,actor information, logo data for broadcasters' or providers' logos,etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, high definition, etc.),advertisement information (e.g., text, images, media clips, etc.),on-demand information, and any other type of guidance data that ishelpful for a user to navigate among and locate desired mediaselections.

Media guidance application data may be provided to the user equipmentdevices using any suitable approach. In some embodiments, the guidanceapplication may be a stand-alone interactive television program guidethat receives program guide data via a data feed (e.g., a continuousfeed, trickle feed, or data in the vertical blanking interval of achannel). Program schedule data and other guidance data may be providedto the user equipment on a television channel sideband, in the verticalblanking interval of a television channel, using an in-band digitalsignal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitabledata transmission technique. Program schedule data and other guidancedata may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog or digitaltelevision channels. Program schedule data and other guidance data maybe provided to the user equipment with any suitable frequency (e.g.,continuously, daily, a user-specified period of time, a system-specifiedperiod of time, in response to a request from user equipment, etc.). Insome approaches, guidance data from media guidance data source 420 maybe provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. Forexample, a guidance application client residing on the user's equipmentmay initiate sessions with source 420 to obtain guidance data whenneeded. In some embodiments, media guidance data source 420 may provideuser equipment devices with the media guidance application itself orsoftware updates for the media guidance application.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-aloneapplications used on user equipment devices. In other embodiments, mediaguidance applications may be client-server applications where only theclient resides on the user equipment device. For example, media guidanceapplications may be used partially as a client application on thecontrol circuitry of a user equipment device and partially on a remoteserver as a server application (e.g., media guidance data source 420).The guidance application displays may be generated by the media guidancedata source 420 and transmitted to the user equipment devices. The mediaguidance data source 420 may also transmit data for storage on the userequipment, which may then generate the guidance application displaysbased on instructions processed by control circuitry.

System 400 is intended to illustrate a number of approaches and/ornetwork configurations, by which user equipment devices and distributioncomponents may communicate with each other for the purpose of accessingmedia and providing media guidance. The present invention may be used inany one or a subset of these approaches, or in a system employing otherapproaches for delivering media and providing media guidance. Thefollowing three approaches provide specific illustrations of thegeneralized example shown in FIG. 4.

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each otherwithin a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with eachother directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemesdescribe above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similar deviceprovided on a home network, or via communications network 414. Each ofthe multiple individuals in a single home may operate different userequipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may be desirablefor various media guidance information or settings to be communicatedbetween the different user equipment devices. For example, it may bedesirable for users to maintain consistent media guidance applicationsettings on different user equipment devices within a home network, asdescribed in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/179,410, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types of userequipment devices in a home network may also communicate with each otherto transmit media content. For example, a user may transmit mediacontent from user computer equipment to a portable video player orportable music player.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment bywhich they access media content and obtain media guidance. For example,some users may have vehicular networks that are accessed by in-vehicleand mobile devices. Users may control in-vehicle devices via a mediaguidance application on a remote device. For example, users may accessan online media guidance application on a website via an in-vehiclecomputer, or a mobile device such as a tablet computer or web-enabledmobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g., recordings,reminders, or other settings) on the online guidance application tocontrol the user's in-vehicle equipment. The online guide may controlthe user's equipment directly, or by communicating with a media guidanceapplication on the user's in-home equipment. Various systems and methodsfor user equipment devices communicating, where the user equipmentdevices are in locations remote from each other, is discussed in, forexample, Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/927,814,filed Aug. 26, 2004, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein inits entirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outsideof a vehicle 402 may use the media guidance application to communicatewith distribution equipment to access media content and media contentinformation (e.g., media content listings). Specifically, users of usercomputer equipment 404 may access the media guidance application tonavigate among and locate desirable media content. Users may also accessthe media guidance application inside or outside of the vehicle usingwireless user communications devices 406 to navigate among and locatedesirable media content.

It will be appreciated that while the discussion of media content hasfocused on video content, the principles of media guidance can beapplied to other types of media content, such as Text, graphical images(e.g., cover art, still images from the media content, video clippreviews, live video from the media content, other types of media thatindicate to a user the media content being described by the listing, orany combination thereof), audio (e.g., music, spoken word, etc.), anyother suitable content, or any combination thereof to describe mediacontent.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the media guidanceapplication may be at least partially used in user equipment devices404, 406, or both that are located in a vehicle 402. In someembodiments, user equipment 404 may be located outside of vehicle 402whereas user device 406 may be located within a vehicle 402 carried as aportable device on a user's person.

As the user travels (either in a vehicle 402 or in any other suitableway, such as on foot), user device 406 may use its location detectioncapabilities to determine its current geographic location. The currentgeographic location may be periodically and automatically updatedaccording to a software routine running on the user device and/ordistribution equipment. The current geographic location may be updatedin response to a user-initiated command to have it updated.

Information regarding the geographic location of user device 406, may becommunicated to distribution facility 416 via, for example,communications network 414 or by any other suitable communications pathand network. The geographic location information of user device 406 mayinclude any suitable information that indicates a geographic locationwhere user device 406 is. For example, the information may include,longitude and latitude data, altitude data, an address (in whole or inpart), a zip code, a building name, a region, a neighborhood, adistrict, a county, a country, a city, a state, a business name, aschool, any other suitable information, or any combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the geographic location information may beautomatically communicated to distribution facility 416 every time thelocation information changes. In some embodiments, the geographicinformation may be automatically communicated to distribution facility416 on a periodic basis. In some embodiments, the geographic locationinformation may be communicated to distribution facility 416 in responseto a user-initiated command.

Distribution facility 416 may store and update the received geographicinformation in a database (not shown). The geographic information may beassociated at distribution facility 416 with the user device from whichthe information originated.

In some embodiments, associations between media content and/or mediacontent listings may be predefined and stored in a database located at,for example, a distribution facility. These associations may also begenerated at the user equipment, distribution facility, at any othersuitable location, or any combination thereof based on, for example,information provided by users. In some embodiments, the database maycontain fields for content, location, associations (e.g., metadata), anyother suitable field, or any combination thereof. The associations maybe stored as, for example, metadata as part of the media content itself,as part of the corresponding content listing, or both.

In some embodiments, the geographic location information of a userequipment device may be associated with media content or media contentlistings. The associations may be used, for example, to provide users invarious geographic locations with associated media content, mediacontent listings, or both. Media content and media content listingsassociated with a particular geographic location may be provided on userequipment as, for example, a list of points of interest or a map showingpoints of interest in or around the geographic location. In someembodiments, media content listings may be provided according to, forexample, popularity of the underlying content in or around thegeographic location. In some embodiments, the displayed points ofinterest, media content listings, or both may direct the user to thereferenced media content. For example a point of interest listing or tagon a map may link to a video scene filmed at that geographic location.

Various embodiments of the present invention will now be discussed inreference to FIGS. 5-12.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in providing mediacontent listings on a user equipment device located at a geographiclocation in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.At step 502, the user equipment device (e.g., user computer equipment404, wireless user communications device 406, any other suitable userequipment device, or any combination thereof), distribution facility416, or both may receive geographic location information. The geographiclocation information, for example, may be a travel destination. In someembodiments, the geographic location information may have been generatedby a location detection module in the user equipment device (or as partof an installation 402 where the user equipment device is located, suchas a vehicle). User equipment devices, distribution equipment, or bothmay receive the geographic location information through any suitablecommunications path and/or network in accordance with some embodimentsof the present invention.

At step 504, the geographic location of the user equipment may bedetermined by electronic processing equipment 438 at least partiallyimplemented at distribution facility 416. Electronic processingequipment may be any suitable software, hardware, or both that iscapable of performing any of the processing steps of the presentinvention. Electronic processing equipment may be at least partiallyimplemented in distribution facility 416, installation 402, positioningequipment 442, any other suitable location, or any combination thereof.

At step 506, a database of media content data (e.g., database 432, 434,436, any other suitable database, or any combination thereof) may besearched to identify media content listings based on content consumptiondata related to other mobile user equipment devices used by others notfrom the vicinity of the geographic location. Content consumption datamay be, for example, based on the number of times the content has beenaccessed by other mobile user equipment devices used by others who arefrom geographic locations in the vicinity of where the user is from. Insome embodiments, content consumption data may be generated bymonitoring interactions of the users with the other mobile userequipment devices. In some embodiments, the content consumption data maybe updated in real-time (e.g., the updating is based on real-timeclickstream data associated with the other mobile user equipmentdevices, etc.).

The media guidance application may provide media content listings in thegeographic region of a user's geographic location based on contentconsumed by travelers to the geographic region who may originate fromgeographic locations near the user's origination location. In someembodiments, the media guidance application may provide media contentlistings for popular content consumed in the geographic region of auser's destination. For example, if a user originates from SanFrancisco, Calif., and is traveling to London, England, the mediaguidance application may provide media content listings for popularcontent consumed in London (or in England or Europe, etc.) by travelersoriginating from San Francisco (or from California or the United States,etc.). In some embodiments, the distribution facility 416 may recordwhat content a user equipment device is consuming, the geographiclocation of the user equipment device, the origination location of theuser equipment device (e.g., using user preferences, etc.), any othersuitable information, or any combination thereof to update the databaseof media content data (e.g., a database to be accessed by a traveler'suser equipment device, etc.).

In some embodiments, media content listings may be based at least inpart on user input (e.g., the user indicates a desire for a listing oftelevision content, movie content, radio content, web content, any othersuitable content, or any combination thereof) communicated through anysuitable communications path and/or network in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention. In some embodiments, media contentlistings may be based at least in part on user preference information(e.g., user equipment device preferences, user equipment device history,a plurality of user equipment device preferences, a plurality ofequipment access device histories, any other suitable information, orany combination thereof). In some embodiments, the one or more mediacontent listings may be communicated to the user equipment throughcommunications network 414 or any other suitable communications networkor path in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

At step 508, the one or more media content listings may be displayed onone or more user equipment devices (e.g., by the guidance application)using a display screen. In some embodiments, the displayed media contentlisting may direct the user to the referenced media content (e.g., amedia content listing uses a hyperlink to the most popular video nearthe geographic location, the second most popular radio station near thegeographic location, a popular local news article describing an eventthat occurred near the geographic location, etc.).

In some embodiments, the geographic location information may be updatedat any suitable point, such as after step 508. This may result inreceiving updated geographic location information from a user equipmentdevice, determining updated geographic location, identifying one or moreupdated media content listings based on content consumption data in thegeographic region, communicating the one or more updated media contentlistings to the user equipment device, and displaying the one or moreupdated media content listings on the user access device. In someembodiments, the content consumption data may be updated at any suitablepoint, such as after step 508. The process shown in FIG. 5 may use theupdated geographic location information, updated content consumptiondata, or both to provide one or more updated media content listings tothe user equipment device.

In some embodiments, content consumption data may be based at least inpart on data collected from one or more user equipment devices in thevicinity of the geographic location (e.g., a media content listing maybe based at least in part on content consumed by geographic neighborsduring any suitable time interval). The process shown in FIG. 5 may beconfigured to provide streaming and/or real-time media content listings.Using the location detection module and submission of real-timeclickstream data, for example, the distribution facility may providerecommendations for what content other users near the geographiclocation of the user equipment device are consuming by popularity. Insome embodiments, the distribution facility may provide lists of whatusers travelling to a certain destination usually consume for contentand/or see what type of content is consumed most in a particulargeographic area. When the content is displayed on the user accessdevice, for example, the distribution facility may collect informationabout what content has been displayed and how many times it has beendisplayed. This may also be used for any content (e.g., programs,movies, etc.) that is delivered streaming over the air to aninstallation (e.g., vehicle, car, plane, boat, any other suitableinstallation, or any combination thereof).

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in providingpoints of interest based on geographic location to a user equipmentdevice in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Atstep 602, distribution facility 416 may receive geographic locationinformation from a user equipment device (e.g., user equipment device404, 406, any other suitable device, or any combination thereof). Atstep 604, the geographic location of the user equipment may bedetermined by the electronic processing equipment in accordance withsome embodiments of the present invention.

At step 606, a database of media content data (e.g., database 432, 434,436, any other suitable database, or any combination thereof) may besearched to identify media points of interest in the vicinity of thegeographic location. In some embodiments, media points of interest maybe based in part on user input (e.g., the user indicates a desire forspecific media content associated with the geographic location, etc.)communicated, for example, through communications network 414. In someembodiments, media content data may be updated by data collected from auser or multiple users. In some embodiments, media points of interestassociated with the geographic location may be based in part on userpreference information (e.g., user equipment device preferences, userequipment device history, a plurality of user equipment devicepreferences, a plurality of equipment access device histories, any othersuitable information, or any combination thereof).

At step 608, a database of media content data (e.g., database 432, 434,436, any other suitable database, or any combination thereof) may besearched to identify media content (e.g., video, audio, text,bibliographic data, biographic data, metadata, any other suitablecontent, or any combination thereof) associated with the points ofinterest. At step 610, the media content data may be communicated to theuser equipment through any suitable communications path and/or networkin accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. At step612, the media content may be displayed on one or more user equipmentdevices (e.g., by the guidance application, any other suitableapplication, or both) using a display screen. The media content may bedisplayed as a list (e.g., points of interest near the geographiclocation), as a map (e.g., physical locations of points of interest nearthe geographic location), as any other suitable configuration, or anycombination thereof. In some embodiments, the displayed points ofinterest may direct the user to the referenced media content (e.g., apoint of interest uses a hyperlink to a video scene filmed at the pointof interest, a business featured in a television program, a news articledescribing an event that occurred near the geographic location, etc.).

In some embodiments, the geographic location information may be updatedat any suitable point in the process, such as after step 612. This mayresult in receiving updated geographic location information from a userequipment device, determining updated geographic location, identifyingupdated media content associated with the geographic region,communicating the updated media content to the user equipment device,and displaying the updated media content on the user access device. Insome embodiments, the media content data may be updated at any suitablepoint, such as after step 608, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present invention. The process shown in FIG. 6 may use the updatedgeographic location information, updated media content data, or both toprovide updated media content to the user equipment device. The userequipment device and/or distribution facility may tag locations in adatabase of movie metadata such that, for example, via the userequipment device a user can lookup where a particular scene in a moviewas shot or which movies used a particular location to film a scene. Theprocess shown in FIG. 6 may be configured to provide streaming and/orreal-time media content listings.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in updating adatabase of points of interest in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present invention. At step 702, distribution facility 416 mayreceive geographic location information from a user equipment device(e.g., user equipment device 404, 406, any other suitable device, or anycombination thereof), in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention. At step 708, the electronic processing equipment maydetermine the geographic location of the user equipment in accordancewith some embodiments of the present invention.

At step 704, distribution facility 416 may receive media points ofinterest in the vicinity of the geographic location in accordance withsome embodiments of the present invention. At step 706, distributionfacility 416 may receive media content data from a user equipment devicein accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Mediapoints of interest, media content data, any other suitable data, or anycombination thereof may be provided by a user through a user inputinterface (e.g., a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touch pad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, any other suitable user input interface, or any combinationthereof), by a user equipment device through a guidance application(e.g., monitoring location and media content consumption on a userequipment device), by any other suitable source, or any combinationthereof. In some embodiments, media points of interest, media contentdata, any other suitable data, or any combination thereof may be basedin part on user input (e.g., the user indicates a desire to associatespecific media content with the geographic location, etc.) communicatedthrough communications network 414. In some embodiments, media points ofinterest, media content data, any other suitable data, or anycombination thereof may be based in part on data collected from a useror multiple users. In some embodiments, media points of interest, mediacontent data, any other suitable data, or any combination thereof may bebased in part on user preference information (e.g., user equipmentdevice preferences, user equipment device history, a plurality of userequipment device preferences, a plurality of equipment access devicehistories, any other suitable information, or any combination thereof).In some embodiments, distribution equipment may receive the media pointsof interest, media content data, any other suitable data, or anycombination thereof through any suitable communications paths and/ornetwork in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.The media points of interest, media content data, any other suitabledata, or any combination thereof may be input by a user on one or moreuser equipment devices (e.g., by the guidance application, any othersuitable application, or both) in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present invention.

At step 710, an association between the media content data and the pointof interest may be generated. At step 712, the media content data, thepoint of interest, the association, any other suitable data, or anycombination thereof may be stored in the database of media content data(e.g., database 432, 434, 436, any other suitable database, or anycombination thereof).

In some embodiments, the geographic location information, points ofinterest, media content data, any other suitable information, or anycombination thereof may be updated at any suitable point in the process,such as after step 712. This may result in receiving updated geographiclocation information, points of interest, media content data, any othersuitable information, or any combination thereof from a user equipmentdevice, determining updated geographic location, generating updatedassociations between the updated geographic location, points ofinterest, media content data, any other suitable information, or anycombination thereof and storing the updated points of interest, theupdated media content data, the updated geographic location, the updatedassociation, any other suitable data, or any combination thereof in thedatabase of media content data in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present invention. The process shown in FIG. 7 may be configured toprovide streaming and/or real-time media content listings.

FIG. 8 shows an illustrative media application guide display screen 800for displaying media content listings in accordance with someembodiments. Display screen 800 may enable access to various types ofmedia content in a single display, a single screen overlay, multipledisplays, multiple screen overlays, any other suitable display, or anycombination thereof and may or may not be updated at any suitable timeinterval (e.g., streaming, real-time, etc.) defined by the user, userequipment device, guidance application, distribution facility, any othersuitable means, or any combination thereof. Display screen 800 mayinclude selectable options 802 for media content information organizedbased on media type, genre, any other organization criteria, or anycombination thereof. In some embodiments, selectable options 802 mayprovide options for linear and/or non-linear media content includingmovie content, television content, radio content, news content, sportscontent, children's content, Internet content, on-demand content (e.g.,VOD), local content (e.g., traveler information), locally-storedcontent, geographic content, any other suitable content, or anycombination thereof. In some embodiments, a user may use a user inputdevice to select one or more types of media content (e.g., one or moreof selectable options 802, any other suitable selection, or anycombination thereof) to display in display region 806. In display screen800, selectable option 804 (e.g., movie listings option, televisionlistings option, radio listings option, any other suitable option, orany combination thereof) may be selected and may provide media contentlistings 810 in display region 806. Media content listings 810 may beaccompanied by media content listings header 808 (e.g., “Popular TVListings for Your Location as a Destination”, etc.), which may describethe scope of the displayed media content listings. In some embodiments,media content listings 810 may provide listings for linear and/ornon-linear media content in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent invention. Display screen 800 may also comprise informationalheader 830, which may be used to display date, time, location, any othersuitable information, or any combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the media content listings 810 in display screen800 may provide text (e.g., the content title), icons, graphical images(e.g., cover art, still images from the media content, video clippreviews, live video from the media content, other types of media thatindicate to a user the media content being described by the listing, orany combination thereof), audio, any other suitable content, or anycombination thereof to describe media content. In some embodiments, oneor more of the graphical listings may be accompanied by text to providefurther information about the media content associated with the mediacontent listing. In some embodiments, media content listing 812 inselectable region 814 may include one or more portions (e.g., one ormore media portions, one or more text portions, or both), which may beindividually selectable to view to view media content and/or mediacontent listings related to media content listings 810 (e.g., to viewlistings for a channel associated with a video) in display region 806,in full-screen, and/or in an additional screen and/or screen overlay.

In some embodiments, the media content listings 810 and media contentlistings header 808 in display screen 800 may be of the same, similar,and/or different sizes (i.e., listing 812 is larger than other contentlistings in display region 806), graphically accentuated, formatted inany other suitable manner, or any combination thereof to indicatedegrees of interest to the user and/or to emphasize certain content,such as content desired by the media provider or based on userpreferences.

In some embodiments, information or media content relating to the mediacontent listing 812 may be provided in display region 806, in analternate screen and/or screen overlay, or both. Region 806 may include,for example, one or more content titles, one or more contentdescriptions, the time the one or more content is provided, the channelthe one or more content is on, the one or more content's local, nationaland/or global popularity, any other desired information, or anycombination thereof.

In some embodiments, a user may use a user input device to select one ormore media content listings, such as media content listing 812, bymoving selectable region 814, scrolling to the desired media contentlisting, touching a touchscreen, using any other suitable method forselecting content, or using any combination thereof. In someembodiments, the displayed media content listing 812 may direct the userto the referenced media content (e.g., a media content listing uses ahyperlink to the most popular video near the geographic location, thesecond most popular radio station near the geographic location, apopular local news article describing an event that occurred near thegeographic location, etc.).

In some embodiments, display screen 800 may also include one or morevideo regions, one or more advertisements, one or more options regions,any other suitable display region, or any combination thereof. Thecontent of a video region, for example, may correspond to, or beindependent from, one or more of the media content listings displayed indisplay region 806. Displays including a video region are sometimesreferred to as picture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays may beincluded in other media guidance application display screens of thepresent invention. It will be appreciated that one or more video regionsmay be included in other media guidance application display screens ofthe present invention.

In some embodiments, an advertisement displayed in display screen 800may provide an advertisement for media content that, depending on aviewer's access rights (e.g., for subscription media content), iscurrently available for viewing, will be available for viewing in thefuture, or may never become available for viewing, and may correspond toor be unrelated to one or more of the media content listings 810,selectable options 802, any other suitable information, or anycombination thereof. An advertisement may also be for products orservices related or unrelated to the media content listings 810. Anadvertisement may be selectable and provide further information aboutmedia content, provide information about a product or a service, enablepurchasing of media content, a product, or a service, provide mediacontent relating to the advertisement, perform any other suitablefunction, or any combination thereof. Advertisement 424 may be targetedbased on a user's profile/preferences, monitored user activity, the typeof display provided, or on other suitable targeted advertisement bases.An advertisement may be provided in any suitable size, shape, andlocation in a guidance application display. For example, anadvertisement may be provided as a rectangular shape that ishorizontally or vertically adjacent to display region 806. In someembodiments, advertisements may be overlaid over media content or aguidance application display or embedded within a display.Advertisements may also include text, images, rotating images, videoclips, any other suitable types of media content, or any combinationthereof. Advertisements may be stored in the user equipment with theguidance application, in a database connected to the user equipment(e.g., a distribution facility, a media content source, a media guidancecontent source, any other suitable database, or any combinationthereof), in a remote location (including streaming media servers), onany other suitable storage means, or any combination thereof. It will beappreciated that advertisements may be included in other media guidanceapplication display screens of the present invention.

In some embodiments, an options region may allow the user to accessdifferent types of media content, media guidance application displays,and/or media guidance application features. An options region may bepart of display screen 800 and/or other display screens of the presentinvention, or may be invoked by a user by selecting an on-screen optionor pressing a dedicated or assignable button on a user input device. Theoptions region may concern features related to media content listings indisplay region 806 or may include options available from a main menudisplay. Features related to media content listings may includesearching for other air times or ways of receiving media content,recording media content, enabling series recording of media content,setting media content and/or channel as a favorite, purchasing mediacontent, any other suitable features, or any combination thereof. Insome embodiments, options available from a main menu display may includesearch options, VOD options, parental control options, access to varioustypes of listing displays, subscribe to a premium service, edit a user'sprofile, access a browse overlay, any other suitable options, or anycombination thereof.

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative media application guide display screen 900for displaying mixed media content listings in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention. Display screen 900 may enableaccess to various types of media content in a single display, a singlescreen overlay, multiple displays, multiple screen overlays, any othersuitable display, or any combination thereof and may or may not beupdated at any suitable time interval (e.g., streaming, real-time, etc.)defined by the user, user equipment device, guidance application,distribution facility, any other suitable means, or any combinationthereof. A display combining listings for content from different typesof media sources is sometimes referred to as a “mixed-media” display.

Display screen 900 may include selectable options 902 for media contentinformation in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. In some embodiments, a user may use a user input device toselect one or more types of media content (e.g., one or more ofselectable options 902, any other suitable selection, or any combinationthereof) to display in display region 906. In display screen 900,selectable option 904 (e.g., local listings option, etc.) may beselected and may provide media content listings 910 in display region906. Media content listings 910 may be accompanied by media contentlistings header 908 (e.g., “Popular Media Content for Your Location as aDestination”, etc.), which may describe the scope of the displayed mediacontent listings 910.

In some embodiments, media content listing 910 may provide listings forlinear and/or non-linear media content in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention. Display screen 900 may alsocomprise informational header 930, which may be used to display date,time, location, any other suitable information, or any combinationthereof. In some embodiments, the various permutations of the types oflistings that may be displayed that are different than display 900 maybe based on user selection or guidance application definition (e.g., adisplay of only movie and radio listings, only news and Internet contentlistings, etc.).

In some embodiments, the media content listings 910 in display screen900 may provide text (e.g., the content title), icons, graphical images(e.g., cover art, still images from the media content, video clippreviews, live video from the media content, other types of media thatindicate to a user the media content being described by the listing, orany combination thereof), audio, any other suitable content, or anycombination thereof to describe media content. In some embodiments, oneor more of the graphical listings may be accompanied by text to providefurther information about the media content associated with the mediacontent listing. In some embodiments, media content listing 912 inselectable region 914 may include one or more portions, which may beindividually selectable to view media content in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention.

In some embodiments, the media content listings 910 and media contentlistings header 908 in display screen 900 may emphasize certain contentin accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.Information or media content relating to the media content listing 912may be provided in display region 906, in an alternate screen and/orscreen overlay, or both. A user may select one or more media contentlistings in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.The displayed media content listing 912 may direct the user to thereferenced media content, other media content, and/or additionallistings in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

In some embodiments, a user may access additional listings in accordancewith some embodiments of the present invention. In some embodiments,display screen 900 may also include one or more video regions, one ormore advertisements, one or more options regions, any other suitabledisplay region, or any combination thereof and/or may be personalized inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows an illustrative media application guide display screen1000 for displaying points of interest based on geographic location inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Displayscreen 1000 may enable access to various types of media contentassociated with a geographic location in a single display, a singlescreen overlay, multiple displays, multiple screen overlays, any othersuitable display, or any combination thereof and may or may not beupdated at any suitable time interval (e.g., streaming, real-time, etc.)defined by the user, user equipment device, guidance application,distribution facility, any other suitable means, or any combinationthereof.

Display screen 1000 may include selectable options 1002 for mediacontent information in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. In some embodiments, a user may use a user input device toselect one or more types of media content to display in display region1006. In display screen 1000, selectable option 1004 (e.g., televisionlocations option, etc.) may be selected and may provide media content1010 in display region 1006. Media content 1010 may be accompanied bymedia content header 1008 (e.g., “TV Points of Interest Near YourLocation”, etc.), which may describe the scope of the displayed mediacontent 1010.

In some embodiments, media content 1010 may provide media content and/orlistings for locations associated with linear and/or non-linear mediacontent in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.Display screen 1000 may also comprise informational header 1030, whichmay be used to display date, time, location, any other suitableinformation, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, thevarious permutations of the types of media content and/or listings thatmay be displayed that are different than display 1000 may be based onuser selection or guidance application definition (e.g., a display ofonly movie and radio content, only news and Internet content, etc.).

In some embodiments, media content 1010 in display screen 1000 mayprovide text (e.g., the content title), icons, graphical images (e.g.,cover art, still images from the media content, video clip previews,live video from the media content, other types of media that indicate toa user the media content being described by the content and/or listing,or any combination thereof), audio, any other suitable content, or anycombination thereof to describe media content. In some embodiments, oneor more of the graphical images may be accompanied by text to providefurther information about the media content associated with thegeographic location. In some embodiments, media content 1012 inselectable region 1014 may include one or more individually selectableportions to view media content related to media content 1010 and/orgeographic location in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention.

In some embodiments, the media content listings 1010 and media contentlistings header 1008 in display screen 1000 may emphasize certaincontent in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.Information or media content relating to the media content listing 1012may be provided in display region 1006, in an alternate screen and/orscreen overlay, or both. A user may select one or more media contentlistings in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.The displayed media content listing 1012 may direct the user to thereferenced media content, other media content, and/or additionallistings in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.In some embodiments, the displayed media content 1010 may direct theuser to a map showing the geographic location of the media content, theuser, or both (e.g., as discussed below in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention).

In some embodiments, a user may access additional media content inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention. In someembodiments, display screen 1000 may also include one or more videoregions, one or more advertisements, one or more options regions, anyother suitable display region, or any combination thereof and/or may bepersonalized in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative media application guide display screen1100 for displaying points of interest based on geographic location inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Displayscreen 1100 may enable access to various types of media contentassociated with one or more geographic locations in a single display, asingle screen overlay, multiple displays, multiple screen overlays, anyother suitable display, or any combination thereof and may or may not beupdated at any suitable time interval (e.g., streaming, real-time, etc.)defined by the user, user equipment device, guidance application,distribution facility, any other suitable means, or any combinationthereof.

Display screen 1100 may include selectable options 1102 for mediacontent information in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. In some embodiments, a user may use a user input device toselect one or more types of media content to display in display region1106.

In display screen 1100, selectable option 1104 (e.g., “Map”, etc.) maybe selected and may provide one or more maps 1108 to display thegeographic locations 1110 of media content 1116 (e.g., the filminglocation of a scene in a television program, etc.) in display region1106, the location of user equipment device 1112, a location and/ormedia content input by the user, user equipment device, guidanceapplication, and/or distribution facility, any other suitableinformation, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, map 1108may include buildings, roads, navigational information 1114 (e.g., acompass, directional arrows, directions, any other suitable information,or any combination thereof). In some embodiments, map 1108 may displaygeographic content in planar view (e.g., top view), perspective view,satellite view, street view, any other suitable view, or any combinationthereof and may or may not comprise road and/or building overlays. Insome embodiments, display region 1106 may include an informationalheader, which may describe the scope of the displayed media content1116.

In some embodiments, media content 1116 may provide media content and/orlistings for locations associated with linear and/or non-linear mediacontent in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.Display screen 1100 may also comprise informational header 1130, whichmay be used to display date, time, location, any other suitableinformation, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, thevarious permutations of the types of media content and/or listings thatmay be displayed that are different than display 1100 may be based onuser selection or guidance application definition (e.g., a display ofonly movie and radio content, only news and Internet content, etc.).

In some embodiments, display region 1106, map 1108, and/or media content1116 in display screen 1100 may provide text (e.g., the content title),icons, graphical images (e.g., cover art, still images from the mediacontent, video clip previews, live video from the media content, othertypes of media that indicate to a user the media content being describedby the content and/or listing, or any combination thereof), audio, anyother suitable content, or any combination thereof to describe mediacontent. In some embodiments, one or more of the graphical images may beaccompanied by text to provide further information about the mediacontent associated with the geographic location. In some embodiments,media content 1118 in selectable region 1120 may include one or moreindividually selectable portions to view media content related to mediacontent 1116 and/or geographic locations 1110 in accordance with someembodiments of the present invention.

In some embodiments, media content 1116, geographic locations 1110,and/or any other suitable content in display screen 1100 may be of thesame, similar, and/or different sizes, graphically accentuated,formatted in any other suitable manner, or any combination thereof toindicate degrees of interest to the user and/or to emphasize certaincontent, such as content desired by the media provider or based on userpreferences. In some embodiments, information or media content relatingto media content 1116 and/or geographic locations 1110 may be providedin display region 1106, in an alternate display region of display screen1100, in an alternate screen and/or screen overlay, or both.

In some embodiments, a user may use a user input device to select one ormore media content and/or geographic location, such as media content1118 and/or geographic location 1110 in accordance with some embodimentsof the present invention. In some embodiments, the displayed mediacontent 1116 may direct the user to a map showing the geographiclocation of the media content, the user, or both. In some embodiments,the displayed media content 1116 may direct the user to the referencedmedia content (e.g., media content uses a hyperlink to the secondclosest media content to the geographic location, etc.) and/or to thegeographic location 1110 associated with the media content, and/or viceversa. In some embodiments, the media content 1116 and/or geographiclocation 1110 may direct the user to directions to the geographiclocation 1110, such as graphic directions, textual directions, audiodirections, any other suitable directions, or any combination thereof.In some embodiments, the media guidance application may provide accessto linear media content, non-linear media content, any other suitableprogramming or media content, or any combination thereof. In someembodiments, additional content and/or listings may be displayed inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

In some embodiments, a user may access additional media content inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention. In someembodiments, display screen 1100 may also include one or more videoregions, one or more advertisements, one or more options regions, anyother suitable display region, or any combination thereof and/or may bepersonalized in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 12 shows an illustrative media application guide display screen1200 which may be used for updating a database of points of interest inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention. In someembodiments, the database of media content data may be one or moredistribution components, included in or separate from a distributionfacility, distributed amongst distribution equipment (includinggeographic and/or virtual locations, etc.), arranged in any othersuitable manner, or any combination thereof.

Display screen 1200 may enable access to add and/or update various typesof media content, geographic location content, and/or associationsthereof in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

Display screen 1200 may include selectable options 1202 for mediacontent information in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. In some embodiments, a user may use a user input device toselect one or more types of media content (e.g., one or more ofselectable options 1202, any other suitable selection, or anycombination thereof) to display in display region 1206. In displayscreen 1200, selectable option 1204 (e.g., “add location” option, etc.)may be selected and may provide database updating features 1210 indisplay region 1206. Database updating features 1210 may be accompaniedby media content header 1208 (e.g., “Add a Point of Interest”, etc.)and/or individual database updating features 1212 (e.g., location inputfeature), 1214 (e.g., content input feature, etc.), 1216 (e.g.,additional input feature, etc.), 1218 (e.g., save feature, etc.), 1220(e.g., cancel feature, etc.), any other suitable feature, or anycombination thereof.

In some embodiments, database updating features 1210 may allow a user(e.g., one or more users and/or devices, a distribution facility, anyother suitable user, or any combination thereof) to add, delete, and/orupdate media content, geographic location, and/or associations thereoffor locations associated with linear and/or non-linear media content inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Displayscreen 1200 may also comprise informational header 1230, which may beused to display date, time, location, any other suitable information, orany combination thereof. In some embodiments, the various permutationsof the types of features that may be displayed that are different thandisplay 1200 may be based on user selection or guidance applicationdefinition (e.g., a display of a movie with database updating features1210 arranged as a screen overlay, a display of a map with databaseupdating features 1210 arranged as a screen overlay, any other suitableapplication, or any combination thereof). In some embodiments, displayscreen 1200 may be used in a device with a camera (e.g., a smartphone, adigital camera, any other suitable device, or any combination thereof)to facilitate the input of graphic images and/or video.

In some embodiments, database updating features 1210 in display screen1200 may provide text (e.g., geographic location, instructions, anyother suitable text, or any combination thereof), icons, graphicalimages (e.g., cover art, still images from the media content, video clippreviews, live video from the media content, other types of media thatindicate to a user the media content being described by the contentand/or listing, or any combination thereof), audio, geographicinformation (e.g., one or more maps and/or map overlays), any othersuitable content, or any combination thereof to update one or more mediacontent databases. In some embodiments, one or more of the graphicalimages may be accompanied by text to provide further information aboutthe media content associated with the geographic location. In someembodiments, database updating features 1210 may include one or moreindividually selectable portions to input media content, geographiclocation information, and/or an association thereof in display region1206, in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

A user may select and/or provide input to one or more database updatingfeatures 1210 in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention. In some embodiments, additional content and/or listings maybe displayed in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention. In some embodiments, a user may input additional informationin accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

In some embodiments, display screen 1200 may also include one or morevideo regions, one or more advertisements, one or more options regions,any other suitable display region, or any combination thereof and/or maybe personalized in accordance with some embodiments of the presentinvention.

It will be understood that the foregoing is only illustrative of theprinciples of the disclosure, and that the invention can be practiced byother than the described embodiments, which are presented for purposesof illustration and not of limitation.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for delivering media content, the methodcomprising: at one or more servers: causing to be determined, usingelectronic processing equipment, a geographic location of a userequipment device; receiving information indicative of a plurality ofmedia content from a plurality of user equipment devices; searching anelectronic database of media content data to identify at least onelandmark associated with the geographic location, to determine that theat least one landmark does not have a line of sight to the geographiclocation, and to identify a subset of media content of the plurality ofmedia content that is associated with the at least one landmark, whereineach media content of the subset of media content corresponds to adifferent video asset; identifying a geographic location of thelandmark; and communicating to the user equipment device data indicativeof the subset of media content to the user equipment device and dataindicative of the geographic location of the landmark using acommunications network.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein causing to bedetermined the geographic location of the user equipment devicecomprises receiving geographic location information from the userequipment device.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising causingthe generation of a display at the user equipment device thatsimultaneously comprises an indication of the geographic location of thelandmark and an indication of the subset of media content.
 4. The methodof claim 3, wherein causing the generation of the display at the userequipment device that simultaneously comprises an indication of thegeographic location of the landmark and an indication of the subset ofmedia content is based on a degree of interest in each media content ofthe subset of media content.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein thedisplay further simultaneously comprises a map associated with thegeographic location of the landmark.
 6. The method of claim 3, whereinthe display further simultaneously comprises an indication of thegeographic location of the user equipment device.
 7. The method of claim1, wherein each media content of the subset of media content has beenpopulated into the electronic database based on the information receivedfrom the plurality of user equipment devices.
 8. A system for deliveringmedia content, the system comprising: at one or more servers comprisingelectronic processing equipment, the electronic processing equipmentconfigured to: cause to be determined a geographic location of a userequipment device; receive information indicative of a plurality of mediacontent from a plurality of user equipment devices; search an electronicdatabase of media content data to identify at least one landmarkassociated with the geographic location, to determine that the at leastone landmark does not have a line of sight to the geographic location,and to identify a subset of media content of the plurality of mediacontent that is associated with the at least one landmark, wherein eachmedia content of the subset of media content corresponds to a differentvideo asset; identify a geographic location of the landmark; andcommunicate to the user equipment device data indicative of the subsetof media content to the user equipment device and data indicative of thegeographic location of the landmark using a communications network. 9.The system of claim 8, wherein the electronic processing equipment isconfigured to cause to be determined the geographic location of the userequipment device by receiving geographic location information from theuser equipment device.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the electronicprocessing equipment is further configured to cause the generation of adisplay at the user equipment device that simultaneously comprises anindication of the geographic location of the landmark and an indicationof the subset of media content.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein theelectronic processing equipment is configured to cause the generation ofthe display at the user equipment device that simultaneously comprisesan indication of the geographic location of the landmark and anindication of the subset of media content based on a degree of interestin each media content of the subset of media content.
 12. The system ofclaim 10, wherein the display further simultaneously comprises a mapassociated with the geographic location of the landmark.
 13. The systemof claim 10, wherein the display further simultaneously comprises anindication of the geographic location of the user equipment device. 14.The system of claim 8, wherein each media content of the subset of mediacontent has been populated into the electronic database based on theinformation received from the plurality of user equipment devices.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions encodedthereon that when executed by control circuitry performs the methodcomprising: at one or more servers: causing to be determined, usingelectronic processing equipment, a geographic location of a userequipment device; receiving information indicative of a plurality ofmedia content from a plurality of user equipment devices; searching anelectronic database of media content data to identify at least onelandmark associated with the geographic location, to determine that theat least one landmark does not have a line of sight to the geographiclocation, and to identify a subset of media content of the plurality ofmedia content that is associated with the at least one landmark, whereineach media content of the subset of media content corresponds to adifferent video asset; identifying a geographic location of thelandmark; communicating to the user equipment device data indicative ofthe subset of media content to the user equipment device and dataindicative of the geographic location of the landmark using acommunications network.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 15, wherein causing to be determined the geographic location ofthe user equipment device comprises receiving geographic locationinformation from the user equipment device.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15 having instructions encoded thereonthat when executed by control circuitry performs the method furthercomprising causing the generation of a display at the user equipmentdevice that simultaneously comprises an indication of the geographiclocation of the landmark and an indication of the subset of mediacontent.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17,wherein causing the generation of the display at the user equipmentdevice that simultaneously comprises an indication of the geographiclocation of the landmark and an indication of the subset of mediacontent is based on a degree of interest in each media content of thesubset of media content.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 17, wherein the display further simultaneously comprises a mapassociated with the geographic location of the landmark.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the displayfurther simultaneously comprises an indication of the geographiclocation of the user equipment device.
 21. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein each media content of thesubset of media content has been populated into the electronic databasebased on the information received from the plurality of user equipmentdevices.
 22. A method for providing media content, the methodcomprising: at a user equipment device: causing to be determined, usingelectronic processing equipment, a geographic location of the userequipment device; communicating information indicative of the geographiclocation to one or more servers over a communications network; causingthe one or more servers to: search an electronic database of mediacontent data to identify at least one landmark associated with thegeographic location, to determine that the at least one landmark doesnot have a line of sight to the geographic location, and to identify asubset of media content of a plurality of media content, wherein: thesubset of media content is associated with the at least one landmark,each media content of the subset of media content corresponds to adifferent video asset, and information indicative of the plurality ofmedia content is provided to the one or more servers from a plurality ofuser equipment devices, and identify a geographic location of thelandmark; and receiving from the one or more servers data indicative ofthe subset of media content and data indicative of the geographiclocation of the landmark using the communications network; and causingto be simultaneously displayed an indication of the geographic locationof the at least one landmark and an indication of the subset of mediacontent.
 23. The method of claim 22 wherein causing to be determined thegeographic location of the user equipment device comprises causing to begenerated geographic location information.
 24. The method of claim 22,wherein causing to be simultaneously displayed the indication of thegeographic location of the at least one landmark and the indication ofthe subset of media content is based on a degree of interest in eachmedia content of the subset of media content.
 25. The method of claim22, further comprising causing to be simultaneously displayed a mapassociated with the geographic location of the landmark.
 26. The methodof claim 22, further comprising causing to be simultaneously displayedan indication of the geographic location of the user equipment device.27. The method of claim 22, wherein each media content of the subset ofmedia content has been populated into the electronic database based onthe information received from the plurality of user equipment devices.